happened overnight. that devastating weather up and down the east coast. whipping winds and driving rains, sweeping cars into rivers in the carolinas. it's an enormous system turning to the north, we're bracing for a beating today all the way to maine, john. >> a huge swath of rain coming to new york city right now. rahm-bo is out. he's eyeing a bid for mayor of chicago. where does this leave the white house? and democrats who are trying to keep the majority that he helped them win. new details and possibly new charges in connection with the rutgers university student who jumped off the george washington bridge after his same-sex encounter was secretly broadcast live on the internet. the latest on the cyber bullying that allegedly drove 18-year-old tyler clemente to his death. a dangerous night of extreme weather up and down the east coast, five people killed in

north carolina. and entire neighborhoods are waking up this morning under water. here's the picture from high above two dangerous weather systems joined at the hip. including the remnants of tropical depression nicole. they're forming sort of a conveyer belt slamming one state after the other. >> the worst of it so far in north carolina, wilmington, a record-breaking 2 1/2 inches of rain since sunday. statewide, five people are dead. four of them killed when their suv skidded into a ditch filled with water. another driver died when his car was swept into a river. 60-mile-an-hour winds took down trees and several counties are submerged. >> further north in silver spring, maryland, a downpour caused a collision between two d.c. metro buses injuring 26 people, including a group of high school students. live in the extreme weather center. and rob, the weather system with all of the damages left behind,

still not quite done yet. >> no, it's not, and it's moving up the eastern coastline now. and as it begins to slide a little farther to the east, we'll get rid of it fairly quickly. but the rain we're seeing this morning is certainly heavy from atlantic city right up through upstate new york and the adirondacks. so we're looking for heavy rainfall, street flooding, across heavily trafficked streets here, and airport delays, as well. there have been a couple of inches of rain fallen in new york so far. the reds for upstate new york and northern parts of pennsylvania including scranton, that's just up for the next couple of hours. and once the heaviest amount of rain begins to push to the east, we won't have as much of o a problem. an additional 3 on top of what we've seen is going to be the call here. and we've seen in some cases 2 to 3 inches of rainfall. here's the forecast track for rainfall, the brighter whites and obviously the pinks, where

we expect to see the heaviest amounts of rain. this is just for the last 2 1/2 days. the storm total for this event, 17 inches, silver lake. if you encompass the last four days, you've got over 22 inches of rain that fell in wilmington. these are all-time records that broken for this area. they got pounded and pounded and pounded continually with this combination of systems. what was left over nicole. and having -- well, taking its sweet time. and it's a bit of a mess out there for everyone in jersey and the new york tri-state area. airport delays, as well. we'll keep you posted throughout the morning. >> a lot of people heading to or at the airport. we'll check on that a little later on. thanks so much. they're reeling this morning throughout north carolina. in some places, it has never rained this hard or this much. >> in jacksonville, north carolina, a family of four was killed because of the flooding.

five in all in just that one state. joining us right now on the phone, a communications officer. welcome to the program. just tragedy when you have weather like this and people lose their lives. tell us about the family of four and what exactly happened there. this was a situation. they were in the car, the car hydroplaned and landed in a ditch, am i right? >> that's right. yes, the car overturned and three people initially drown. there were two twins and one later died in the hospital. and there's one twin that is alive. a little 3-year-old boy. >> oh, no. so it was a family with small children in the car. you can imagine how difficult that is to try to get -- oh, that's just tragic. also, a fatality there. >> yes, a 51-year-old man was -- well, the highway patrol got the call about 4:00 in the afternoon

that there was a vehicle submerged in water. so he probably was swept off the road. >> it's so tragic when people -- people don't understand that the water pools on the roadways, and the second your car hits that, you completely lose control. we also have some reports, patty, of entire neighborhoods under water. places like swansboro. >> well, there are roads closed, and people being evacuated from subdivisions and trailer parks. all in all, about 150 people people evacuated. >> i know it's going to take time for the water to go down. great to talk to you this morning. thanks for joining us. >> sure. our cnni-reporters are checking in this morning, helping bring you a better perspective on this weather. he's vacationing there from buffalo, new york. he says he's a little frightened

by the flood waters and would take a blizzard any day over the flooding and raining. we want to show the world your i report. you can shoot it and send it to i-report.com. >> 22 inches of snow in buffalo? a country plunging into chaos. a week long state of emergency effect in ecuador after the military was forced to rescue the president. hundreds of officers angry over a law that would cut their benefits took to the streets yesterday. set up road blocks and shut down airports. the dramatic live images were broadcast all day long. ecuadorecuador's president being treated after being tear gassed. two officers were killed in a bloody fire fight. dozens of people have been injured and arrested throughout

the country. police in southern pakistan say militants torched 25 fuel supply trucks that were headed for afghanistan. the convoy was held up after the pakistan government shut down the gate over the deaths of three soldiers. pakistan claims they were killed in pakistani territory during a fight between nato troops and militants. also new this morning, nasa laying off 1,200 workers today. many of them shuttle program workers since the early 1980s. the pink slips come despite congress passing a $19 billion budget which extends the retirement to june of next year. a great highlight from the indians/tigers game in cleveland. it didn't happen on the field. it happened on the stands. take a look at this. a dad going after a foul ball while holding his baby. can you see it? there it is. a pretty good balancing act, really. >> one-handing the baby and the ball this morning.

>> that's a professional dad. holding the kid on one hip. the crowd -- >> he caught it on a rebound, as well. >> that's awesome. >> not bad. and it's a story we told you about early this week on "american morning." a peewee football game in texas turning into a fabulous demonstration of sportsmanship with an all out brawl between the coaches. both teams as we told you were banned from the playoffs. last night players and parents appealed to the league saying it's not right to punish the kids for the terrible, absolutely horrible behavior of the parents. league officials, though, refused. they apologized to the kids, but they said, the parents and the adults were behaving so badly that the final decision is a final decision. >> wow. so what do you do sit down with your parents and say, look, i'm not going to tolerate this anymore? >> the kids were demonstrated the good sportsmanship. when adults behave badly. crazy.

coming up, new details in a cyber bullying case that has simply shocked a nation. a rutgers university student driven to take his own life. credit card rewards are always good in theory.

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it's coming up now on 12 minutes after the hour. new details and possibly new charges in connection with the rutgers university student who jumped off the george washington bridge the over day. the tragedy shining a new light on the dangers of cyber bullying. remember 18-year-old tyler clemente took his own life after his same-sex encounter was streamed live over the internet. >> two other rutgers students are charged with invasion of privacy and could face additional charges. stephanie elam is following developments this morning. this is a story people can't stop talking about. it cuts you to the core this young man took his own life. >> especially when you hear so much about him being a good kid, a talented violinist, as well. and we're able to tell you is the new york medical kparm's office is saying the body found the day before yesterday is that of tyler clemente. it has been ruled that he did

kill himself. and the cause of death drowning and blunt injuries from the impact of the jump. the last alleged message we've been able to see from tyler was allegedly on his facebook page where he said "jumping off the g.w. bridge, sorry." now two students allegedly streamed video of him online kissing a male companion. "roommate asked for the room until midnight, i went into molly's room and turned on my web cam. saw him making out a dude, yay." and then on the 21st he tried again. anyone with ichat, i dare you to video chat with me between the hours of 9:30 and 12:00, yes, it's happening again. there's a chain on a message board that closely resembles the events that occurred at rutgers. the post reads quote, so i the other night i had a guy over, i talked to my roommate that afternoon and he said it'd be fine with him.

i checked his twitter today, he tweeted i was rooming the room and he went into someone else's room and turned on a web cam and saw me making out with a guy. we have to mention here obviously the tone of this post doesn't sound like someone distraught enough to go ahead and kill themselves the next day. that's why we're working to confirm these posts were from tyler clemente. but we have learned that the ip address associated with the post does trace back to rutgers. that's one of the interesting things here is that what happened between the 21st when his roommate allegedly tried to film him again until the 22nd when it looks like he went ahead and killed himself. >> in cases of suicide so often, you don't see any signs. this is something when you know someone or you know people who have had a suicide in their family. they say, wait a minute, the day before everything seemed fine. i don't know what the tone of the message what we can even -- >> well, also, he's posting and

almost reaching out for advice and help. and for this website he would go to if this was him. that's what we don't know yet. and so he was looking for advice on how to deal with it. the other thing we can say now is because these two people have been charged, the prosecutor is saying that now they're going to see about this invasion of privacy and whether or not they can charge them with bias because was this done because he could have been a gay man? or was it just because it didn't matter who in this room he went after. >> maybe the charges should be elevated accessory to some sort of -- i don't know if there's some sort of accessory to manslaughter charge. maybe they didn't push him off the bridge, but the allegations are they led him up to it. >> how do you police what people post on social networking sites? and if you're able to do that and do our laws as they stand now, are they even addressing the situation? but it's an awful situation. it's putting light on the pressures that a lot of people are feeling out there. because it's so easy to go write something and not think about

what affect it'll have. >> the whole thing is unbelievably disgusting. >> and that quickly, a very promising life is gone. >> it's not just writing something. it actually turned on the -- >> setting up a web cam. >> thank you so much. coming up at 6:40 eastern, we're going to take a closer look at cyber bullying and the consequences with parry aftab and sela gaglia. leader of the mtv show "if you really knew me." coming up now on 16 minutes after the hour now. it's the very first of october. beginning a brand new month today. and while it may be a long way away in your thoughts, the idea of lying out and getting a suntan. guests at one hotel might need full body armor to protect them from the rays of sun to be focused in such a way they're being called death rays. is there a high enough spf sunscreen to protect you from this? .

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♪ depending on how you look at it, they're eithering turning 12,010 years old or 50. the flintstones celebrating their anniversary. the show was a prime time comedy that first aired on abc in 1960. and we can still learn a lot from the stone ages. like how to build a truly zero emission vehicle. >> you know, for -- when i was a kid, the flintstones was my

favorite cartoon. yes, i saw the original airing. but i could never figure out the lyrics of that song. when it says let's ride with the family down the street through the courtesy of fred's two feet. >> oh, there you go. minding your business this morning. wealthy americans developing a big appetite for fast food during this downturn in the economy. a study by american express found that ultraaffluent consumers are spending 24% more than last year at places like mcdonald's and dominos. the average american spent about 8% more on fast food year to year. and attention walmart shoppers, store prices rose in september to the highest level in 21 months. the mega retailer has been scaling back on discounts. well, a new hotel in the vegas strip is becoming a hot spot. a hot spot of the worst kind.

the sleek curve glass facade is reflecting the sun's rays and directing them at the pool area. they're being focused to the point where the rays are melting plastic cups and bags. well, it does kind of look like one of those solar farms. one guest says he was lying on a lounge chair and he could smell his ahair burning. >> the hotel is putting a special film on the windows that blocks about 70% of the reflection and they're getting bigger umbrellas to deal with the hot spots. >> that sizzling sound is not your morning omelet. see how the big unions are trying to energized the unemployed. it's 22 minutes after the hour. sovereign of the security line. you never take an upgrade for granted. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above.

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♪ welcome back to the most politics in the morning. the major labor unions, traditional ally of the democrats and the president. but this election, many of the rank in file aren't feeling particularly enthusiastic about the party. the unions are trying to organize and motivate the unemployed to vote. our jim acosta is live in ben salem, pennsylvania. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, christine. yes, we've heard a lot about the tea party these days firing up the conservative base.

they've gotten a lot of coverage. well, not to be outdone, the big unions are hoping to whip up an army of unemployed voters these days. they're trying to pull out the stops to get the voters to the polls in about a month from now. >> i lost my home. i spent all of my daughter's college fund to survive. >> they're sharinging their horror stories from the great recession. >> i'm looking everywhere, mcdonald's, anywhere. >> i'm just trying to keep my family together. >> and even though they're sitting around a kitchen table, it's clear this is no tea party. >> i don't care if i have to, shall i say, scream from the rooftops? knock on doors. we have to come together as unemployed people. >> these unemployed workers were recruited by one of the nation's biggest unions to become part of a new political force. the idea, to match the emotion and the energy that fuels the tea party, but to keep the democrats in power in washington. >> you want to give people a choice? >> we want to give people a

choice. >> the meeting inside the home of angela is one of many across bucks county, pennsylvania. a crucial swing district in the upcoming midterm election. an area that bears the scars of the recession. if you think the politicians can escape these harsh realities, consider patrick murphy. four out of the five businesses surrounding his congressional office in this part of bucks county are closed. hard times are right outside his front door. murphy was not available for an on-camera interview. but in his tv ad, he warns mike fitzpatrick will take the country back to the bush years. fitzpatrick who lost to murphy four years ago says that president obama's policies are the issue. >> won't there be more gridlock and nothing will get done? >> no, if there are more like me in washington, we'll have a reasonable health care reform bill and lower taxes. lower taxes will permit the

businessman to create jobs and put these men and women back to work. >> reporter: they're writing postcards to remind voters what's at stake on election day. >> do you feel a little disappointed? >> i think we're a little disappointed how everyone didn't work together on this huge issue, which is the economy. >> the democrats were in control. >> they were in control, but they can't do everything by themselves. >> reporter: and you could say she's already found herself a job. >> i'm so tired of people saying, oh, these people are so lazy, they need to get a job. i would do anything and anybody at this table would do anything to work. >> permission to get out the vote. >> reporter: and those unemployed voters that you met in that piece, they're going to be lining up with other big labor union organizations and other liberal leading groups. they're all heading to the national mall in washington tomorrow for a rally of their own.

they're calling it one nation. and john, christine, they're telling us don't call it a tea party. >> so they're obviously motivated to get some -- actually going for the election. do unemployed voters actually get out to the polls, though? >> reporter: that's a good question. we looked into that ourselves. we were wondering, do unemployed voters vote? as it turns out in 2008, according to the census, 55% of unemployed voters did show up to vote in the 2008 election. but contrast that to people who do have jobs, 66% of people who have jobs vote. there's a big difference there. so they want to change that. these union organizations want to change that and fire up all of these people out there who have lost their jobs to get out there and keep, they hope, democrats in charge. >> that's pretty big. huge departure from the obama white house today. rahm emanuel is going to leave washington, head back to the windy city to run for mayor there. >> if karl rove was bush's

brain, rahm emanuel was obama's muscle and the driving force behind the democratic party. why now? ed henry is live for us this morning. his departure comes at a critical time ahead of the midterms. >> it really does, christine. it's a huge blow for a number of reasons. just the fact that it's coming over a series of high-profile departures from the inner circle. and also, as you know, it's coming right before these midterm elections. they're going to set the table for the next two years of the obama administration, but also set up his whole likely reelection battle in 2012. and when you look at it, if democrats do take a hit in those midterm elections, who better than rahm emanuel to help the president pick up the pieces from a political standpoint but from a policy standpoint, he would have been critical to help the president on capitol hill navigate what might be a republican congress or severely hampered democratic majority in both the house and the senate. he's now not going to be there.

and i think it's also interesting while he certainly has his critics, he's brash, profane. he's got sort of this winner-takes-all mentality that doesn't sit well with people in his own party. there's no denying that rahm emanuel's fingerprints have been all over the accomplishments this president has had over the last two years. take a listen to robert gibbs. >> his leadership, his energy, has helped us accomplish so much in helping our economy recover, in passing landmark wall street reform, health care reform, credit card reform, student loan reform, all of the things th that -- there's not a -- there's not an important thing that has happened in this administration that we've been able to accomplish for the american people.

it has not involved heavily his signature. >> but while he's a huge power player in washington, here in chicago, it's almost like he's got to start over again. if you look at this morning's ""chicago tribune,"" it's all about the governor. you have to look all the way here for page 8 where there's a story about rahm emanuel leaving the white house. interesting, there's already ten candidates in the democratic primary, about a dozen more candidates mulling it. he's going to have to fight and claw, scratch his way into winning the mayor's office. it's going to be a big battle. a lot different from being the top dog in the white house. >> well, if anybody can fight, claw, and scratch, rahm emanuel can do it. >> right. >> pete rouse is going to be the interim replacement, likely to be announced today. personality wise, he's completely different from rahm emanuel, but still an insider, right? >> absolutely. i mean, this is somebody who is well known to this president.

he's been a behind-the-scenes player, senior adviser in the white house, helped in the campaign, also chief of staff to then senator obama. and you know that he came from tom daschle's office before that, was the chief of staff to the majority leader known as the 101st senator because he wielded a lot of power, but you're right, quiet power, behind the scenes, much different than emanuel. it might be better to have somebody not so high wattage, especially over the next two years. now, he's only doing it in a temporary basis, but there are some democrats who think he may end up getting the job long-term. there are other aides who have been talked about. i think the bottom line, though, it's going to be tough to replace rahm emanuel with that high-wattage personality. but this president on the long-term jobs, there are a lot of people we're familiar with who are sort of in his inner circle. it'll be interesting whether there's more pressure on the president to come up with somebody outside the box and shake things up.

most like pete rouse familiar may be pressured to go outside the box. >> thanks, henry, in chicago. crossing the half hour. it's time for this morning's top stories. five people dead in north carolina where parts of the state have been hit by nearly 2 feet of rain. flood watches in effect this morning as far north as maine. about that $182 billion we owe you, well, insurance giant aig has finalized a plan to repay the record bailout. it involves a huge stock swap with the fed. the white house claims the government stands to make a $20 billion profit on the deal. and chilean officials say the first test of a rescue was a success. once one of three drills of the miners working through, the capsule will be lowered nearly 2,000 feet. officials expect to complete the rescue by the beginning of next month. coastal carolina reeling this morning. streets are flooded, homes,

businesses under water. >> carolina beach, north carolina, kayaks, not cars are the only way to get from street to street. more on all of this now from amanda lam from wral. >> reporter: it's still a real mess here in carolina beach along the north carolina coast. this storm dumped 21 inches of rain over the last few days in this area. and you can see all of these roads are under water. there's an 11-acre lake behind me. it can usually handle about 6 or 7 inches of rain, of course, not the 20 inches plus they got. they're pumping out about 13 million gallons a day. but as you can see, they still have a long way to go. and once the sun comes up, we'll have a better idea of just what the flooding has done to this area. the highest rain total they had here was back in 1999, that was 19 inches from hurricane floyd.

so again, this is just an epic event here along the north carolina coast. and they are going to be cleaning up for some time. back to you guys. john, christine? >> wow. terrible situation for those folks today. hopefully the water will go down quickly, though. coming up, the death of a rutgers university student. spotlighting an epidemic of cyber bullying and gay bashing among kids in high school and college. >> a closer look at the shocking case that shocked the nation.

39 minutes after the hour. the story has sent shock waves across the country. an 18-year-old student at rutgers university took his own life jumping off the george washington bridge after his gay sexual encounter was streamed live on the internet allegedly by his roommate. it's a tragic example of the growing danger from cyber bullying. joining us now from san francisco to talk more about this is sela gaglia. and with us in the studios parry

aftab. she's the executive director of wiredsafety.org. this case just seems to be a complete obliteration of the boundaries of decency here. you know, he was -- this kid was tapped into via a web cam. it was posted about on twitter. people were invited to see the live streaming video. are we creating with the internet an entire generation of young people who know no boundaries? >> know no boundaries and see it as a way to gain fame. you can do something using videotaping and you become famous on the internet. >> you know, sela, what's really troubling about this case is well, from another angle is tyler clemente who leapt to his death after the george washington bridge took with him before he committed suicide his laptop and his cell phone and posted on his facebook page that he was about to commit suicide. yet, you've got to ask yourself as a parent, just a person in society, what's going on with kids today?

>> absolutely. and i am a parent of three sons. so when i saw that, it, of course, hit very close to home. i think what we've got is a generation of young people that actually feel really disempowered. and these are grasps at trying to get that power back again. >> well, you know, the internet, parry, has changed. it used to be something going on in the dorm or the classroom, i'm going back 15 years here, it might be a subject of gossip among a small group of people for a few days, then it would go away. now it can explode on the internet. millions of people can find out about it overnight and it never goes away. >> never goes away. and it's hundreds of millions of users. the good thing, they have a lot of places where suicide help groups and obviously cyber bullying will help people -- >> are there enough resources on the internet for people like

tyler clemente that if he's having a problem, there might be another way to deal with it than leaping off a bridge? >> absolutely. and not just on the internet. there's definitely a lot of creative resources popping up for this relatively new issue. but there's also a lot of resources on campuses, high schools, and colleges that are there for young people in these situations or any other type of bullying situation. >> now, parry, we talk about a decency issue here and how somebody could do what is alleged to have been done in this particular case. but then there's also the legal aspect of it, as well. the two people who are alleged to have been involved in this may face charges of invasion of privacy. they could also face bias charges. there are others who are saying maybe they should elevate the charge to have something to do with manslaughter. do people know enough about what it's okay to post on the internet and what is not okay to post on the internet? >> they have no idea. and clearly he knew what he did

was absolutely wrong. you can't bring the manslaughter type cases. i hope it's going to be a lot more than privacy. and the governor of new jersey has asked the attorney general to look at whether or not civil rights charges could be brought in this case. so i hope it's going to be treated in a very serious way and send a message to others that it stops here. >> sela, who is responsible here for a student's behavior on the internet? can parents really get that involved here? because for the most part, the student knows so much more about internet usage than the parent does. and it's just, mom and dad are really cute, trying to tell me how to use the internet, but know nothing about it. who should be teaching these young people what's right and what's wrong? >> yeah, i believe it's all of our responsibility as a society. whether we have children or not. it's definitely the responsibility of teachers and educators, coaches. but we encourage parents to sit down with their young people and

ask them questions. our key phrase is "if you really knew me, what would you know about me?" and have those detailed conversations. create an environment that's safe enough for the young people to honestly answer the questions. >> this is not a parent issue. by the time they get to college, they either know the values or not. we need to make sure they're using this filter, the one between their ears. >> good to talk to you this morning. bullies are a pervasive problem in and out of school. watch american morning next week for bully proofing the classroom and your kids. >> rob marciano will drop by with this morning's travel forecast after the break. and in ten minutes, what if secretary hillary clinton launched a primary bid against president obama. how would she do? we've got the latest poll numbers on that. ♪ this one thing i'll eat, any time of day ♪

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46 minutes past the hour, it's time for a quick check of the morning's weather headlines. rob marsciano in the extreme weather center. >> rain dumped on parts of carolina and also parts of pennsylvania, the northeast, tremendous amount of rainfall here. these are the totals. and this is really just two-day totals for the one particular storm itself. and from north carolina through maryland, virginia, and south carolina, we've got rainfall totals that are easily over a foot in many spots. and we mentioned wilmington as seeing over 22 inches in the

last four days. and that is definitely record-setting. here is where the rain is right now. and it is finally beginning to move in some capacity to the east. so we're going to get it out of here before too long, but before we do, it's been raining heavily. philadelphia got 2 1/2 inches of rain in three or four hours. that has since moved out. now new york out towards long island and parts of connecticut, that's where the heaviest amounts of rain are falling and pushing off to the east. but you can already start to see back through jersey and allentown, a bit of a dry slot. so we'll take that for sure. but the damage may very well be done as far as way we're dealing with at the airports. ground stops until at least 7:00 a.m. for laguardia and jfk. it'll be on the increase for boston, as well. what do we expect to see for flooding? another 1 to 3 inches as this last bit of rain comes through. there is a little bit more in upstate new york. flash flood warnings there, also

flash flood warnings posted for new york city and also parts of southwestern connecticut as this last batch of rain moves through. generally speaking from canada all the way down to almost florida, the ground's saturated. we went, guys, from drought conditions across much of the eastern third of the country to pretty much busting that drought in a hurry. virginia, maryland, and eastern pennsylvania are the states that bore the brunt of this deluge of rainfall. >> that's where people are at, finding out if they can get to work. there were fatalities in north carolina. be careful of the hydroplaning, the ditches and the water alike. it can be a little treacherous. >> i was driving along i-20 in georgia last week, and some guy

in a ford focus went flying by us about 80 miles an hour hydroplaning in front of us, barely in control. >> wow, thanks, rob. >> and about a mile up the highway, there was a rollover accident, not that person. another one. be careful out there. president obama gets an earful from top democratic leaders. their message, get aggressive. details from the best political team on television. ens if someoe gets my credit or debit card and buys a ton of stuff? that would be... really, really bad. [ male announcer ] with bank of america's zero liability guarantee, you're not responsible for any fraudulent charges on your card. guaranteed. bank of america says they'll credit any fraudulent charges back to my account as soon as the next day. the next day! that makes me feel better about using these cards. they've got my back. they've got my back. [ male announcer ] the opportunity to worry less about fraud with the zero liability guarantee from bank of america.

i was tired of living in my apartment. decided hey, let's go buy a house! i could go to quickenloans.com and sign all of the paper work i needed to take care of. and it didn't have to be between 9 and 5 -- which doesn't always work for me. the people at quicken loans really care. it was nice to being able to call them whenever i needed to answer questions. they were on it. they were on top of everything. quicken loans made everything super convenient and easy. so the fact that they could work with my schedule was just wonderful. that's why i love quicken loans! ♪ welcome back to the most politics in the morning. crossing the political ticker this morning. his poll numbers may be down, but one thing hasn't changed for president obama since 2008.

democrats still prefer him over hillary clinton for president. >> but, of course, it all depends on which democrats you're talking about. mark preston up early and live this morning at the cnnpolitics.com desk. good morning, mark. >> hey, good morning, john, good morning, christine. so what would happen if hillary clinton challenged barack obama in 2012? remember, she was that bitter rival who became this very trusted aide. could she become a bitter rival again? well, gallup corporation tested that question. and who comes out on top? barack obama still comes out on top. he comes in at 52% in this hypothetical match-up to hillary clinton. clinton herself comes in at 37%. so where is his strength in the democratic party right now? well, men, women, college age and non-college grads as well as the liberal part of the base. where is clinton's big support? conservatives, of course. and the 2008 presidential race,

hillary clinton was really doing well with the more conservative democrats. hypothetical match-up, not very likely to happen. let's focus on the 2010 midterms. we're about 30 days out. remember the term that barack obama used fired up and ready to go? well, democrats want hill to be fired up and ready to go. they were very impressed with him during his big campaign rally out in wisconsin just a few days ago. there's been a lot of talk that he's a liability on the campaign trail. but you know something, they realized he's their best bet to help them retain control of the congress. during a private meeting yesterday they expressed so much. they're telling barack obama, get up, get on the campaign trail, get fired up because we're ready to go. john, christine? >> yeah. it's really interesting to look at that poll. and there are some people, some democrats who are looking at barack obama, mark, saying he hasn't lived up to what we thought he was going to do. and anything they're looking at whether the grass is greener on the other side. >> and that's the big fight right now in the democratic

party. some would say is the glass half empty or half full? and even obama has addressed this in a "rolling stone" interview a few days ago, he said, look, i've done everything i've said i would do. just because we haven't gotten a few things through. >> mark preston, political ticker, awesome. >> we're going to check back in with mark in our next hour. and for roadway minder of all the latest political news, go to our website cnnpolitics.com. this was my first time to use it.

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extreme weather. record floods, the most rain ever in one region. a perfect storm on the move this morning. already dealing a deadly blow to the east coast. and impacting travel nationwide. on the most news in the morning.

and good morning. thanks so much for joining us on this friday, october the 1st. we'd like to say tgif, but unfortunately, it's not going to be any kind of a friday to be thankful for today. i'm john roberts. >> and i'm christine romans. here are this morning's top stories. new details possibly new charges in connection with the rutgers university student who jumped off the george washington bridge after his same-sex encounter was secretly broadcast live on the internet. the latest on the cyber bullying that led tyler clemente to his death. rahm-bo out. sources saying rahm emanuel will step down as chief of staff today. he's eyeing a bid for mayor of chicago. where does this leave the white house and the democrats who are fighting to keep the majority he helped them win? twin brothers claim

zuckerburg stole the idea out from under their noses. they sued, looking for millions and looking for more. they'll be here to talk about that and tell us about their portrayal in the movie "the social network" opening today. >> looking forward to that. the destructive power of extreme weather up and down the east coast. downpours and devastating winds killing at least five people and leaving entire neighborhoods under water. >> here's the picture from above. too dangerous, two different dangerous weather systems joining together forming an enormous wall of wind and rain slamming one state after another. north carolina reeling right now. people getting from street to street by boat. five people were killed after being swept off roads and into ditches and raging rivers. >> up to 10 inches of rain could fall today from virginia up into maine. the system poses a tornado threat too. high winds could take out trees and power lines. and in coastal areas, flood watches in effect this morning

as far north as that low pressure system is piling up a lot of water along the coastline. rob marciano starts off our coverage this morning in the weather center in atlanta. and the storms are moving quickly, leaving behind a trail of destruction. >> finally it's moving quickly, it's been a slow go the past couple of days. on the radar screen from philadelphia to new york. we've seen rain dry out a little bit. all the way up the hudson valley up by i-87, the throughway, heavy rain, but it is making some progress to the east. there is some hope here. but, of course, folks who live in eastern new england, you're going to get hammered over the next couple of hours and you'll see delays not only in the air but also on the ground, it'll be a slow go. an additional 1 to 3 inches on top of what you've seen in these warning areas and watches. flash flood warning out for parts of the new york city metropolitan area, including southwestern connecticut for this heavy rain band that's moving through. how much rainfall has come down

since 8:00 a.m. tuesday morning? 6 inches in baltimore, 11 inches in norfolk, 16 inches in wilmington. but in the past four days, they've seen over 20 inches of rainfall. they've never seen that, and you'll have to go back to the hurricane season in 1999 to compare what happened with this system. and we haven't had a hurricane come onshore. just that little bit of tropical moisture. 1.36, up until 4:00 this morning. since 4:00, you've gotten an inch and a half in the past three hours. we'll watch for the system to move off to the east and things will get a little bit more tranquil here over the next day. this weekend looks to be great. but people would be certainly cleaning up and mopping up. and it'll be a slow go this rush hour from new york to boston. >> you know, the massive storm, no doubt having an effect on airports, as well this morning. here's a look at the major airports along the mid-atlantic. boston, looking at delays over

an hour. same story in new york where a ground stop was in effect earlier this morning. we get ground stops in new york when there's not weather. >> all somebody has to do is sneeze. >> philadelphia and washington airport, d.c. looking at delays of i think 30 to 60 minutes each. >> a slow go today. be sure to check with your airline otherwise you'll spend a frustrating morning at the airport. our cnn i-reporters are checking in this morning. in upstate new york, there is severe flooding in endicott, outside of binghamton. sending us this picture of his street with a river running through it. and from elizabeth city, north carolina, vikki sent us this picture of hunter street. no cars getting through the mess right now. we want to show the world your i-report. shoot it and send it to us at ireport.com. never put yourself in harm's way when taking pictures or shooting video. emergency responders are hoping to get streets reopen as

flood waters begin to recede there. bob maloney, director of the major's office. welcome to the program. first off, you saw this coming. so yesterday you were doing an awful lot of preparation. you didn't want to have to go in there and rescue people today. how is that working out? >> well, we think we did well. we actually made residents in our lowest-lying area move their cars. and we think that we avoided a lot of damage. we were dealing the tidal storm surge and all the tremendous amount of rain coming downstream. it was just a whole lot of rain for a long period of time. and we're in the process now of cleaning up some streets and cutting down -- or cutting up trees that have fallen and repairing power lines. we're getting back on our feet. it was quite a storm. >> bob, many of us remember back to hurricane floyd when it came through our area. pushed all that water up the top of the chesapeake and flooded

out neighborhoods in baltimore. how bad was the tidal surge this time around? >> well, this time the bigger problem was the rain because we had a lot of localized flooding. we had a lot of streets closed early on. the storm surge so to speak was not as bad. we think it came in around 5 feet. the harbor where the -- most people who visit boston would be familiar with did come out of the banks somewhat. but it was definitely the rain this time. it didn't seem like we got a lot of wind, what was forecast. but i keep saying the word rain because it seems like it didn't stop. it was very, very remarkable. >> all right. thanks, bob. best of luck to you today as you wait for those flood waters recede and start the clean-up. >> thank you so much. also developing this morning, a country plunging into chaos. a week long state of emergency in effect in ecuador after the

military forced to rescue its president. hundreds of officers angry over a law that would cut their benefits took the streets yesterday. two officers were killed in a gunfight with troops at the hospital where the president was being held. police in southern pakistan say that militants torched fuel fly trucks yesterday. the convoy was held up after the pakistan government shut down the gate. the border gate there over the deaths of three soldiers. pakistan claims they were killed in pakistani territory during a fight with nato troops and militants. now to the death of a rutgers university student. 18-year-old tyler clemente's body was pulled from the hudson river yesterday. he took his own life jumping off the george washington bridge after a same-sex encounter was secretly recorded and streamed live over the internet. two of the rutgers students including clemente's roommate were charged with invasion of privacy and could face additional charges. our stephanie elam is following

developments for us this morning. and really, there are few words to really describe what happened. >> no, it's a terrible, terrible story. and we finally got this i.d. yesterday that this was, in fact, the body of tyler clemente pulled from the river two days ago. and let's tell you exactly what is new here. k now that two individuals have been charged with invasion of privacy, we will be making every effort to assess whether bias played a role in the incident. and if so, we will bring charges. that has to do whether or not they were going after him to film him because he was a gay man or whether it didn't matter at all. also new this morning, the new york medical examiner's office telling us this body in the hudson river they were able to find that it is tyler clemente. the 18-year-old took his own life. the cause of death has been ruled drowning and blunt injuries from the impact of the jump. also, a third item new this

morning too. a jaychain on a message board t closely resembles that have occurred at rutgers. the post reads "so the other night i had a guy over. i had talked to my roommate that afternoon and he said it would be fine with him. i checked his twitter today. he tweeted that i was using the room, which is obnoxious enough, and that he went into somebody else's room, turned on a web cam and saw me making out with a guy." when you take a listen to that, it doesn't sound like a post from someone distraught enough to kill himself. this is one reason we're working to confirm these posts are, in fact, from tyler clemente. however, the ip address associated with this post does trace back to rutgers. the two 18-year-olds accused in the story dharun ravi and molly wei. i just happened they ended up living on the same campus and

floor. at this point, what we're trying to figure out. was molly really an accessory here? because he used her computer to get on and turn his web cam on. that's one of the things. and really is the issue here that ravi was the one invading privacy. so all next week, "american morning" putting together a series of special reports to address the problem of bullying in our schools. we're looking at the growing problem of possible solutions. we've talked to teachers, parents, across the country about what they face on a dilai basis. >> is it worse with words, do you think? >> i think it is because when i was little -- like people always said i was like really ugly. and that i never knew it affected me so much. and people would ask if i was a

boy or a girl and i was hurt. i never wanted that to happen. it lowered my self-esteem really bad. and i never wanted to go to school. >> it's the kind of pain that affects so many children. one in three kids are bullied or bully every year. so how do you stop it? >> sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. >> oh, but they sure do. >> we're calling our series "does back to school mean back to bullies?" it airs all next week. look for reports all next week here on "american morning." hollywood's take on the creation of facebook. "the social network" opens today across the country along with 500 million friends. mark zuckerberg made his share of enemies along the way. twin brothers cameron and tooyl claim he stole their idea.

the allegation plays out on the big screen. >> your father's lawyer? >> he's going to look at this and if he thinks it's appropriate, he'll send a cease and desist lawyer. >> we can do that ourselves. i'm 6'5" 220, and there's two of me. >> the real life winklevi eventually settled the case for a reported $65 million. but now, apparently, they want more since facebook is estimated somewhere between $20 billion to $24 billion in value. they will join us at 7:40 eastern to talk about that and how they were portrayed in the "social network." meanwhile, oprah opens up to "fortune" magazine about the launch of her own cable network. and the woman who spoke exclusively to oprah about why this new venture almost didn't happen. and should sarah palin make an official run for the republican nomination in 2012?

new poll numbers reveal how she would stack up against her potential republican challengers. and we've got the numbers coming right up. credit card rewards are always good in theory.

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15 minutes after the hour. to the most politics in the morning now. huge departure from the obama white house coming today. sources tell us that chief of staff rahm emanuel is going to leave washington to go back to chicago to run for mayor of that city. if karl rove was bush's brain, rahm emanuel was obama's muscle. and long before that, the driving force behind the democratic party. so why is he out now? ed henry live for us in chicago this morning. and the big announcement expected today. and rahm really on a tight schedule if he wants to run for mayor there. >> that's right, john, because he's got to get the signatures to get on the ballot by the

22nd. he's got to move early next week here in chicago to get that campaign up and running. but it's hard to sort of overstate how much of a blow this is going to be to the president. at least in the short-term. because of the fact that as you say we're just a month from the midterms. rahm emanuel known as one of the democratic party's top strategists from a political standpoint, but also from a policy standpoint as a former congressman, a former clinton white house aide. he's the one who knows how to run the trains. basically his fingerprints are all over much of the president's accomplishments over the first two years. and if democrats take a hit in those midterm elections, the white house people are expecting to have rahm emanuel there on november 3rd helping the president pick up the pieces, figure out how to work with the republican congress or severely weaken democratic congress. now they're going to have to look back on what they see as many, many successes he's been able to do.

>> his leadership, his energy has helped us accomplish so much in helping our economy recover, in passing landmark wall street reform, health care reform, credit card reform, student loan reform. all of the things that -- there's not a -- there is not an important thing that has happened in this administration that we've been able to accomplish for the american people. it has not involved heavily his signature. >> now, while emanuel has been the top dog at the white house, interesting to see how it's playing out in chicago. the front page of the "chicago tribune" this morning. it's all about the governor's race. there's a little line up here. rahm will leave white house. you have to go to page 8 inside to get that story. it shows you that he is going to have to fight this out, claw his

way. there's about ten people already in the mayor's race, another dozen or so looking at it. this is not a slam dunk. >> what do we know about the fella replacing rahm? he's never sent anybody a dead fish, has he? >> he has not, unlike rahm emanuel to a political opponent long ago. quite the opposite. self-afacing, someone known as a love of cats. you can't see rahm emanuel loving cats or puppies. this is a hard-charging political operative as you noted. but pete rouse has been a senior adviser in the white house, chief of staff to senator obama. chief of staff to the majority leader in the senate tom daschle, known as the 101st center. so pete rouse is well known behind the scenes in democratic politics. and some think, look, instead of the high wattage star power of

rahm emanuel, it'd be good to have an insider to steady this ship. >> how much of a cat lover is he? he doesn't have 82 cats? >> i've heard he has several and talks to his friends about which cat they've got and what not. i can't imagine rahm emanuel being a big lover of cats or puppies. as you said, he sent that dead fish to a political opponent years and years ago. you couldn't find two more stark style differences between rouse and emanuel. >> we'll see. all right. ed henry this morning. ed, thanks. christine? oprah talking candidly to "fortune" magazine about her fears of starting her own network. hear what oprah had to say when we speak to the editor at large in a few moments. are getting fit cashback bonus at restaurants. it pays to switch, it pays to discover.

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♪ oprah winfrey as you can see assembling quite the star-studded slate for the

launch of her upcoming cable channel. it's the beginning of a new chapter for oprah who is ending her talk show after 25 years and preparing to run a network that hits the air waves in three months. she confessed her fears about the transition to "fortune" magazine. you first interviewed her eight or nine years ago. you interviewed her for this piece, as well. oprah called you last night, you said. >> she did. >> what was that like? >> i was actually standing on 46th street talking to the cnn producer. and i got an unknown caller call and this voice goes hi, it's ms. next act. that's the cover line. and i go who? and she goes ms. next act. yeah, she called the story soulful. >> soulful. >> soulful. which is unusual for "fortune" magazine. >> here's a woman with 25 years on her show, a show she owns and dominates.

and she's starting this next act,which is the cable channel. there are risks involved with this. >> there are big risks involved. you know, the cable -- the tv landscape is so crowded, so jam packed, and it's really hard even for the biggest moguls to start successful cable networks today. look at rupert murdoch trying to start fox business network three years ago he wanted to catch up to cnbc and he's still trying and spent hundreds of millions of dollars. >> martha stewart moving her show -- >> yeah, she's getting 1/4 of the audience on the the hallmark channel. >> oprah winfrey at the beginning of this, she was going to lend her name and brand to this network and somewhere along the way she had to go all in. >> she did. this is a 50/50 partnership with discovery communications, which owns the discovery channel, animal planet, tlc. the head of discovery came to her three years ago and said i want to start a network together. own the oprah winfrey network. well, she'd been sitting on this

idea for 18 years. stedman, her boyfriend came up with it 18 years ago, but she was afraid. too comfortable doing the oprah winfrey show. so they agreed the ad market collapsed when the recession happened. he came back to her and he said i need a lot more of you. and you have to give up broadcast tv entirely. and she said -- and i said what did you think? she says i was not pleased. >> not pleased at all. what -- is she optimistic this will be a big success ratings wise? that advertisers are going to go for it? and it's going to change the lives of views? >> she says she doesn't care about ratings. and i said, what do you mean you don't care about ratings. she goes, you're right. i said, do you want to be a top ten cable network? she says i don't think in those terms, but yes. >> thank you so much, "fortune" magazine. still to come this morning, a new war, new enemy, new

battlefield. the same bond. our jason carroll with the 101st airborne in afghanistan. a soldier's story continues coming up next. this was my first time to use it. it's pretty cool. [ woman ] you just feed your check in. feed the money right in. no deposit slips. no looking for an envelope. i have an image of my check right here. i can get a picture of the check, on the receipt. it even tells what kind of bills i put in.

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♪ tum ta tum tum tums welcome back to the most news in the morning. time for an a.m. original. something you'll only see on "american morning." and we've been following the story of army sergeant first class randy shorter and the 101st airborne in afghanistan.

>> they are the next generation of band of brothers. and jason carroll joins us now to share more of their story. >> yeah, i know this is called a soldier's story, but maybe we should call it a family story. because they really are like a family. you realize that when you spend so much time with them. they are dedicated in a way that few can appreciate unless they too have been in the same situation. they are truly a band of brothers. >> reporter: much has been said about the closeness that in the bonds that exist between you guys. where do you think the bond between you guys comes from? >> you know, you bleed with them, you sweat with them. becomes your brothers. my brothers are their problems, their problems are my problems. and you can't get no tighter than that. >> it's about fighting to the man to your left and to your right. >> how about the rest of you guys? >> i agree with that. i don't have any brothers, so these are -- actually a lot of

them feel like they are. >> reporter: i wonder if you get to the point where as much as you love each other, do you get to the point where you just want to throttle someone? >> that's what the cave is for. whenever you feel like you want to wring their neck, hide in your cage and calm yourself down. >> reporter: you've got this bond. but sometimes people can become so close, you know, they can't see -- they lose perspective so to speak. >> it's just like a brother. i can be so mad at my brother i want to just hurt him. but then five minutes later, it's like, what's up, man? you're best friends again. >> after you've been with these guys for so long. everybody knows how we are truly deep down inside. and we cannot let the moment get to us. we're going to get mad at times. we're going to get frustrated. but at the end of the day, we know, hey, i'm still here. you're still here. we're going to make it. >> when i started this assignment, i thought to myself, one of the questions i always

had is how you guys deal with death because that's a very real part of what you do. >> my first deployment i lost someone, i lost a friend of mine. we all had that mentality, you want to go out there, hurt someone, tear somebody up. but, you know, our buddies to our left and right kept us sane, still in the fight, focused on the mission ahead. because they become your mom, your father, your brother, your sister. they become your family. that's who you lean on. whenever you're hurting, that's who i'm going to lean on. >> if it was to happen to me, i wouldn't want everybody to be sad. play the music, you know, have some food, get together. >> i want a party. >> oh, you want a party? >> i want a party and i want them to sit me up in the corner just chillin' smiling. >> it's got to be difficult when you go home, when you have these kind of experiences and you try to talk to people about it.

>> but it's our responsibility. it's our responsibility to go back home and put it in words and ways for them to understand. and i think we're making a difference. and that's what you want to make a difference in life. and by us doing this, we're making a difference. >> i just hope the american people actually keep us in their thoughts and prayers and not forget about us, and not forget that we're over here. >> regardless whether you agree or disagree, we are americans. keep us in your prayers regardless. keep us in your heart. >> well, since the u.s. has been at war for nine years now, it's easy to get fatigue on the home front and the war front. sergeant shorter and his platoon represent the thousands upon thousands of men and women who are there every day leaning on each other to see this through until the very end. >> they've got such great spirit. but the fact that a lot of those guys have been there two or three times. >> absolutely right. and they're there for a year,

away from their families. but in order for them to keep their sanity, it's all about good leadership and having that down time and being able to lean on each other. >> and as one of the guys said, being able to laugh. that's fantastic. >> yeah. yeah. >> thanks. >> great series. good to see you here. crossing the half hour, it's time for this morning's top stories. possible charges in connection with a rutgers university student who jumped off the george washington bridge. two other rutgers students including tyler clementi's roommate are charged with invasion of privacy. store prices rose in september to their highest level in 21 months. the mega retailer had been scaling back on discounts from earlier this year. prices for produce at walmart jumped 10% in the past month, dairy products rose 2%. and record-breaking extreme weather across the east coast.

five people dead in north carolina where parts of the state hit by nearly 2 feet of rain this week. flood warnings as far north as maine. our rob marciano tracking the system from the extreme weather center. those fatalities in north carolina because people were driving and hit puddles and started hydroplanes and went off the road. and there's an awful lot of rain on the roadways north of there too. >> yeah, you know, there's certain things you can't control. if a tree falls down on your car, certain weather-related fatalities. when you know you're in a flood zone, that's something you can certainly do. 2.9 inches of rain so far in new york city. but that pales in comparison to allentown. boy, they just got pummelled yesterday, not only with rain, but wind, almost a foot of rain. and wilmington 16.68 inches of rain. and if you go back over another couple of days, they've got over 22 inches of rain.

showing you flood rose near sussex county, you're all under flood warning until 10:30 this morning. really got a ton of rain between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. is when it really came down in that area. and that's why it's a slow go right now. here's where the rain is right now on the radar scope, we are seeing some progression, movement to the east. if we do get a slowdown, we might get a wave that developing here and that might prolong what happens. but i think for the most part, the heaviest rains are moving towards eastern new england. and that's where the brunt of the rainfall -- it's good to see easterly progression with it. bringing in that tropical stream of air, and that's been the biggebig biggest, biggest problem here. through parts of southwestern connecticut. flash flood warning now for the next 15 to 20 minutes as this heavy band of rainfall continues to move through. do want to touch on what's going

on for the weekend, which is some pretty nice weather. so just get through this friday, we're looking at some fantastic cool, fall-like weather here. for much of the country over the weekend. but it's been a rough go certainly these past two days. john, christine, back up to you. >> i swear that eastern progression is part of the new york/boston rivalry. if we've got the weather, you're getting it too. >> may very well be. the so-called facebook movie opens up today. two of mark zuckerberg's sworn enemies the winklevosses. ???????

if you guys were the inventers of facebook -- >> is there anything you need to tell me? >> your actions could've permanently destroyed everything i've been working on. >> we've been working on.

>> mark! >> you don't get 500 million friends without making a few enemies. one of the year's most anticipated films, "the social network" opens nationwide today traces the evolution of facebook. one of the lawsuits accused zuckerberg of stealing the idea for facebook. that suit was brought by two of his former harvard classmates twin brothers tyler and cameron winklevoss. and they join us this morning. great to see you. >> great to see you. you guys saw the movie, what did you think of it? >> it's very entertaining. it is a non-fiction film and it's definitely -- it keeps you engaged the whole time. >> tyler? >> same thing. the caliber of the script, david finch's directing, this will be a movie of the year. >> you say it's non-fiction, mark zuckerberg sees it differently. he says much of this film is a work of fiction.

what do you say to that? >> well, i'm not sure he actually sees it because he hasn't seen it. it's hard for him to say what is fiction. but certainly it is a non-fiction film. and that's sort of the party line. but they haven't even seen the film. >> what do you say in response, tyler? >> yeah, it's laughable that you could make a comment on the voracity of the film without having seen it. so until he does, it's not really credible. >> just to you folks at home who haven't had the benefit of seeing the movie, the background, you were at harvard university, you were working on something called connect u, which was a harvard wide version of facebook. he was working, zuckerberg was hired to work for you as a programmer, correct? >> yes. >> and you say in a filing from 2004 "over the course of three months, mark led us on by pretending to complete work and making up excuses to stall our progress while he developed his own competing website. he did a tremendous job of duping us. so much so that we were

completely blind sided when he came out with his website." so you went to larry summers to complain. what did summers say to you? >> he wasn't -- we sort of went in the meeting feeling pretty disappointed about the situation and came out feeling worse. he wasn't particularly diplomatic. but he did tell us to go to the courts and that's where we should seek recourse. >> okay. so not being diplomatic, translate that for us. what did he say? >> essentially, like cameron said, we came in obviously very disappointed and felt betrayed. and there was no reason for us to have to feel, you know, even worse about it when we left. but he effectively said that it was something that was outside of the jurisdiction of harvard and that -- >> well, that sounds pretty diplomatic. did he say something to the effect of suck it up, go start another business? >> there was -- there was -- in addition to that, he did sort of say, well, there's -- you'll have another good idea.

and we essentially said, well, sir, that's not particularly the point here. you know, this is the idea now, this is it. and the only time he seemed to really be interested in it when i mentioned i said -- look, i'm pretty sure this is going to be a national global story. are you concerned about sort of the university's stance on this. will the university get involved with this ethics issue? because, you know, it's not just about shaping minds, it's about shaping leaders, people, and ethics. >> you sued the company, you settled. the figure is taken to be somewhere around $65 million. which a lot of people would think that's a tremendous amount of money. but you're going back -- you're appealing that. why? >> well, basically facebook played dirty with us during the litigation and at mediation. so we don't want to be defrauded into a settlement agreement so we're appealing and trying to rescind it. >> what are you looking for? more money? >> essentially the agreement we

entered into, there was an equity component of that and they misvalued that. >> what the company was actually worth? >> yes, exactly. >> and it's worth what? $24 billion now? >> well, i'm not sure exactly what the exact valuation is today, with respect to our situation, we were given equity valued considerably higher than than what they were valuing their own equity internally and a board-approved number. once we sort of determined that difference and found out about that, we have since trying to challenge it. >> are you looking for money or recognition, as well? >> well, we're looking for a fair race so to speak. the litigation on documents are radio actively essentially. all of mark's electronic instant messages. we filed suit in '04, we settled in '08. they have established in the "ni "new yorker" that the board of

executives reviewed these instant messages, yet two years later we didn't have them. yet they had a duty and obligation legally to send those over during discovery. so not only did we go into settlement with nothing close to the evidence we were entitled to, then as cameron said during the is settlement -- during the mediation they said that the stock they were trading us with was worth one value when they themselves knew it was worth entirely different. >> you just got mbas from harvard, you're trying out for the 2012 olympic rowing team. you've got a nice nest egg to build on. so you might be okay. >> appreciate it. >> cameron and tyler, good to see you this morning. christine? >> tyler in blue, i think, cameron in the other. coming up, becoming an empowered patient, elizabeth cohen has another life-saving lesson for us. 44 minutes after the hour. doesn't mean it is clean. but with one sheet of bounty, you'll have confidence in your clean. in this lab test, just oney

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discertot now, allov cntry are getting ve perce cashba bonus at restaurants. it pay switch, its to dr. welcome back to the most politics in the morning, crossing the political ticker this morning, new polled numbers reveal the top gop choices for 2012. >> our senior political editor mark preston live at the cnnpolitics.com desk for us this morning. hi, mark. >> hi, john, hi, christine. we're still talking about the 2012 presidential race. well, gallup has a new poll today. who do republicans want to challenge president obama in 2012? well, let's take a look at these

numbers. mitt romney who ran for the nomination and lost back in 2008 to john mccain, he comes in at 19%. every social conservative favorite, sarah palin comes in at 16%, followed by mike huckabee, another 2008er who lost. he comes in at 12%, ron paul, the texas congressman who also ran in 2008 comes in at 7%. and then we have a whole list of folks after that. it just shows you that people are certainly focusing on the 2012 presidential even though we have the midterms. very embarrassing situation for the senator from georgia, chambliss. he had to remover a staffer from his staff because of an anti-gay comment that this staffer posted on a gay-oriented website. this comment was posted right after the don't ask, don't tell vote just a couple of weeks ago. it was a very violent message. it required the senate officials here to do an investigation to

find out where the comment came from. they traced it back to mr. chambliss' office. he has apologized to the author of the blog. a very embarrassing situation for saxby chambliss. and for the latest political news, go to our website cnnpolitics.com for everything you want to know about the midterms and 2010. >> just to go back a second, what did you think of the winklevi. >> wow, they look exactly the same. i haven't seen somebody -- >> 29 years old, they just got mbas from oxford. they got that huge settlement. they're stunningly handsome, i think they're going to be okay in life. >> i think so too. i think so too. and they're olympic rowers, is that right? >> yes. >> they've got an awful lot going for them. but you see your friend who has this huge empire -- and feel it was truly your idea, maybe you feel like you have the right to

fight. >> i wouldn't mind starting off from the age of 29 where they are right now. no question about that. >> make wise choices with your money because you could make that grow over the course of a lifetime. >> we'll be right back. all the. rules and restrictions. oh, and limits. [ scoffs ] forget about it. but i love this card. bankamericard cash rewards credit card. 1% cash back on everything i buy. period. no limit to the amount of cash back i can get. no hoops to jump through. simple. [ male announcer ] the refreshingly simple bankamericard cash rewards credit card. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

bankamericard cash rewards credit card. in 2008 i quit venture capital to follow my passion for food. i saw a gap in the market for a fresh culinary brand and launched behindtheburner.com. we create and broadcast content and then distribute it across tv, the web, and via mobile. i even use the web to get paid. with acceptpay from american express open, we now invoice advertisers and receive payments digitally. and i get paid on average three weeks faster. booming is never looking for a check in the mail. because it's already in my email.

stories about your health and senior medical correspondent elizabeth cohen is schooling us on becoming an empowered patient. >> title of her new book and special this weekend, she joins us from atlanta with another life-saving lesson. all about taking the power and making sure you have the information to make the right choices with your health care. you can't let it happen to you, right? >> that's rite. you can't let it happen to you, christine. in my book and my special this

weekend, i teach you how to become an internet md, an internet medical detective. harness the power for your good health with the help of turner animati animation studios, i bring you this story. >> she's terrified the breast cancer will come back and what scares her even more is her daughter sky will also get it. so she's about to take a cutting edge test to find out if there's a gene for breast cancer hiding in her dna. and if so, has sky inherited it? the test takes about a minute. >> all done. >> the test searches deep into a woman's dna to look for breast cancer genes. this is the blood sample. to everyone, this is a vile of blood. for her, this is her future and perhaps even more important to her, this is about her daughter. this is about what happens to

her daughter. the this test shes a mutation, she'll have the ovaries and other breast removed and there would be a 50/50 chance that she passed that gene down to sky. >> i feel very guilty that this is part of her vocabulary and part of her world but in the same breath i feel like maybe i'm teaching her a lesson, knowledge is power. >> how have you been? >> nervous. >> reporter: a month passes. dr. rachel wellner has the results in the hand. >> no surgery needed. >> it's negative. i don't believe it. so mommy got her results. it is negative. >> yay! >> how did it feel to tell her just now? >> getting to tell sky was the hugest thing of that news. i feel i did it for her. >> reporter: what's pretty amazing is geralyn discovered this test from other breast cancer survivors. what lessons have you learned from all of this?

>> i have to keep searching. i can't rest on my laurels. >> reporter: by doing research and staying ahead of the curve, geralyn stayed ahead of breast cancer. it's so crucial to be an internet md. one way is to go online and find folks who have the same disease that you do. it's from other survivors, of course, as i said that geralyn learned about this breast cancer test. >> there's so many support groups for so many different medical illnesses and diseases. is it easy to find a patient like yourself to talk to about all of this? >> people tell me it is. people i know that have done this say it's pretty obvious what are the big and more respectable groups of patients. but they say it's really pretty easy to find them and also -- here's a good thing to do. find a blogger with your disease

a. smart blogger maybe going to the all the conferences and reading the studies and can be helpful. >> thank you. don't if forget to see the special saturday and sunday night at 7:00 eastern here on cnn. top stories your way after the break. [ male announcer ] the craftsman cordless multi-tool. the power and versatility of six tools packed into one. more innovation. more great values. craftsman.

good morning. thanks for joining us on the most news on the morning. on this friday, october 1st. it's not a great friday. >> not a great friday. no, not for a very big swath of the east coast. lots to talk about this morning. extreme weather causing catastrophic flooding in the carolinas. five people are dead. homes and businesses submerged and this enormous system is still kicking around this morning. flood watches, warnings now in effect as far north as maine. >> i bet they wish that was snow in vermont. >> sources tell cnn that rahm

emanuel will step down as white house chief of staff today. there's a threat of a gop takeover, what about the timing? we'll ask candy crowley and andy card. >> can't wait for this. does the planet earth have a twin? >> astronomers say they discovered a planet more like earth than anything else we have seen with the potential to support life. >> this planet doesn't have days and nights. wherever you are on the planet, the sun is in the same position or the star. it keeps one side facing toward the star and the other side is in per pepetual nighttime. >> the new planet is about -- newfound planet is about 120 trillion miles from here. >> 20 light years away. >> we begin with breakbreaking rain causing pain for people in the carolinas.

dangerous storm system moving north. flood warnings and watches now in effect from virginia all the way north into maine. ten inches of rain could fall in some places today. >> many flights to new york's kennedy international delayed by five hours. millions of americans affected by extreme weather this morning. homes, businesses under water. frankly, there's no fast way to get help. >> cnn has this story covered like no other network can. rob marciano tracking the storm second by second joining us in a moment from the extreme weather center. >> first to north carolina where kayaks not cars the only way to get from street to street and more from amanda lamb of cnn affiliate wral. >> reporter: now that the sun has come up, we are starting to see the effects of the flooding here in carolina beach, north carolina. the roads are completely washed out in this downtown area. think eve had an epic amount of rain in the past few days. more than 20 inches, that's

breaking records. back in 1999, after hurricane floyd, they had 19 inches. there's a lake back here that was designed to hold about six inches of rainwater. of course, it couldn't hold the 20-plus inches. that water has now spilled over its banks and come into the downtown area. there are a lot of roads flooded out in this area and close by counties. they brought in pumps right down the street, five pumps to try to get the water out at about a rate of 13 million gallons a day and looks like it takes a while before the town is dry again. back to you. >> obviously, taking a while looking at the pictures there. rob is in the extreme weather center in atlanta this morning. storm now moving quickly but certainly wasn't up until now. >> no, it wasn't. such a wide swath of real estate. so many people in the eastern corridor affected by this. let's go over the numbers. since 8:00 tuesday morning, new york still raining, 2.9 inches.

allentown, 7 inches. norfolk, yesterday, just cell after cell dumping all this rain on the hampton roads area and even tornado warnings. nothing verified but wind damage and wilmington, 16 inches. you saw from the live shot over four or five days, record amounts. 20 inches in many spots. as far as the northeast concerned, a lot of it. it's moving finally a little bit more quickly off towards the east. off towards long island. southwestern connecticut, new england. this is four states yesterday that really just got hammered with this. flooding in north carolina. south carolina with wind damage, as well. pennsylvania and maryland, also got it. off the coast. that's the deal with this storm. inland areas got more rain than some coastal areas and those are the end results there as far as the pictures are concerned and some cases we have a lot of

these rivers that are either flooding or expected to flood as they crest here in the next 6 to 12 hours. don't expect long-term flooding from this event but the rain coming in this a hurry. short-term flooding there. as far as what we expect to see over the next 6 to 12 hours, 1 to 3 inches. most of this east of the hudson although the next couple of hours will be wet in new york city. and upstate new york and then starting to see things dry out a little bit getting through tomorrow. mentioned the airport delays. here's what we leeking at right now. philadelphia with a ground stop until 8:45 and released and then ground -- there was a ground stop at laguardia. now the average ground delay there, over three hours already and especially in the morning, of course, there's a ripple effect in the afternoon. especially in the morning, you will have your biggest problems in new york and philly. look out the window there and see what it looks like. it's been an awfully wet morning.

columbus circle certainly looking a little bit damp this morning. will be a slow go not only across new york but all of the surrounding suburbs as folks try to get up and out to work on this friday. the weekend doesn't look too shabby. get through it. we're almost there. >> that's a good thing. dealing with a bad friday with sunshine on the weekend. thanks, rob. take a picture, record some video and check in with us online. we want to show the world your ireport. taking the pictures, stay safe throughout. >> that's right. new jersey prosecutors may bring more charges against a pair of rutgers university students. right now, they're accused of invading the privacy of another rutgers student, 18-year-old tyler clementi. he committed suicide jumping off the george washington bridge after a sexual encounter with another man was streamed online. new jersey's governor said it should be considered a hate crime. bullies are a problem in and

out of school. watch the special reports on bully-proofing the classroom next week and your kids. 6 minutes after the hour nato trucks torched in pakistan. a crucial line is cut off. police in southern pakistan say militants torched 25 fuel supply trucks headed for afghanistan. pakistan angry over the deaths of three of the soldiers closed the border crossing there. china marking 61 years of communism going to the moon. state media says china launched the second lunar probe a little over an hour ago. chinese media says the country's aiming to put a man on the moon around 2020. >> so we don't want to go back to the moon but the chinese find value in doing it. hmm. nasa laying off 1,200 workers today. maybe because we have decided not go back to the moon. many of the departing workers with the shuttle program since the beginning. the pink slips despite congress passing a $19 billion budget for the space agency. which allows for one additional

shuttle trip to the international space station taking place next june. >> staying in the realm of space, in a galaxy far, far away scientists discovered a new planet. we'll talk to a philadelphia astronomer, derrick pitts, later in the program. >> we know it's not in another galaxy. okay? don't e-mail us this morning. >> it is tv. >> yes. president obama set to lose the chief of staff today. what now for the second chapter of the obama presidency? up next andy card, former white house chief of staff and our own candy crowley, what to watch for as rahm emanuel departs for chicago.

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ten minutes after the hour now. back with the most politics in the morning. midterm elections 32 days away, democrats telling the white house to get out there and get tough but they're also about to lose a little bit of muscle. sources telling us today that today will be rahm emanuel's

last day at white house chief of staff. joining us to talk more about this, former white house chief of staff in the bush administration, andy card and candy crowley. host, of course, of "state of the union." andy, as the former chief of staff, is this a big loss for the white house? does the obama administration need a rahm-bo character to get things down in washington these days? >> look at. i don't agree with the philosophy, the policy or the politics of rahm emanuel or the president but he did a good job for the president. his job was to get the president's agenda through congress and he did it. i think he will be missed an doesn't mean he's irreplaceable. he can be replaced. pete rouse sounds like a -- >> his policies you agree with, right? >> no. he knows that. >> candy, tell us a little bit about pete rouse.

personalitywise he couldn't be further from rahm emanuel. but what about policywise, is there a difference? >> no. the president sets the policy. you have that. what is interesting to me, and yes, personalitywise they're very different. rahm as you know can be quite aggressive. he is a hardballplay player so pete rouse by all accounts but the temperament calmer, more laid back and doesn't have that kind of rahm-bo as you put it earlier. there's that but what i think is interesting is rouse is an expert on the senate and the senate has been where the president has run into more trouble than the house. now, part of that is the way the house works and the senate works and they have the numbers in the house but the rahm is the expert on the house side and worked the house a lot. he got house members to do things they later regretted because he couldn't get the senate to do the same thing and i find it interesting there's an expert on the senate. >> personalities completely different.

best of my knowledge, andy, pete rouse never sent a dead fish to a 0 poe innocent. >> pete is very highly respected. he is a partisan and philosophically different from me and he knows the senate. candy's very insightful in describing the difference. and so -- >> she is. >> i think it's a relatively safe choice for president obama right now. i'm not sure that it was an inspired choice but i think it's a safe choice, and the job of the chief of staff is to help the president do his job. >> i wanted to ask you about this. how important is the choice of chief of staff to the white house's success? i know in your day, of course, you were dispensable. >> no. i was very dispensable. >> can you change chiefs of staff and keep going along is it really important to the white house? >> the chief of staff gives personality to the white house. the president gives personality to the executive branch and our nation. but the chief of staff gives personality to the white house,

so pete rouse's personality is so different from rahm, i think the white house will change. i don't think the public will recognize the change but the demeanor of behavior inside the white house will change. i don't think as many four-letter words used. >> that probably with the wife as a minister good thing for you if you had been in the white house. something else to talk about, candy. this is interesting. the likelihood of it is probably very close to zero. there's a poll showing 37% of democrats would support hillary clinton in a matchup against barack obama in 2012. 52% support him. when you look at conservatives, too, she comes out on top 48% of conservatives in the democratic party say they support her compared to the president. interesting the look at. do you think it would happen? >> no. i don't think it will ever happen. the last time we talked to hillary clinton about whether she'd stay for a second term for heaven's sake as secretary or

state of how long to say, she said i will want to retire at some point and i wouldn't look for her to retire in 2012 or 2016 but i think what this -- i think what this poll does tell us is interesting things. there's still a reservoir of support for hillary clinton. remember, she almost won the democratic nomination. so there's still a lot of people out there. i know you talk to them every day saying i wish she'd won. when you look at the conservative democrats, i think what you're seeing is a lot of what you are seeing with the independents and that is he's gone too far so i think that accounts for a lot of what you are saying. >> in 1980, senator ted kennedy launched a challenge. we are talking about it in 2008. would it be incredibly bad form to challenge him two years from now? >> i don't think that she would. wouldn't surprise me if she became the vice presidential nominee. and the vice president became the secretary of state. that would shake things up but i also think that president obama

may be inciting a democratic primary challenge we are the performance as president. i don't think that it will be hillary clinton, though. >> who do you think it might be? >> i don't know. mayor bloomberg. maybe he'll say i'll jump in. >> running as an independent? >> i'm not sure. he would want a chance to win the presidency not just be a spoiler. >> all right. candy, what do you have coming up this sunday on "state of the union"? >> talking about what you are and as you say, we're, what? a month away so a lot of talk about politics. with some of those who are moving some of the campaigns and then we'll have a roundtable to kind of discuss where we see things going, not just on the campaign trail but what happens and after that as far as legislation is concerned. >> all right. candy, greet catch up with you. >> great to see you. good to see you, candy. >> thank you. nice to see you, andy. >> catch candy this sunday

morning 9:00 eastern here on cnn. christine? >> all right. so we're all concerned about the economy. something happened in september, wall street enjoyed the best september in 71 years. if you had your eyes closed and the 401k statement in the top drawer, you'll see that something good happened. 50 like it's some kind of dream. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's either this magic number i'm supposed to reach, or... tdd# 1-800-345-2550 it's beach homes or it's starting a vineyard. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 come on! tdd# 1-800-345-2550 just help me figure it out in a practical, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's-make-this-happen kind of way. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 a vineyard? give me a break. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 [ ale announcer ] looking for real-life answers tdd# 1-800-345-2550 to your retirement questions? tdd# 1-800-345-2550 get real. get started. talk to chuck. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 [ man ] i thought our family business would always be boots. until one day, my daughter showed me a designer handbag. and like that,

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♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. 19 minutes after the top of the hour. time for minding your business on wall street. a september surge. despite the dow slipping 47 points yesterday, the market posted its strongest percentage gain for any september since 1939. the dow jumped 733 points this month -- last month. that's a 7.7% gain. the s&p 500 also posted its best september gain in 71 years. ben bernanke has a message for teachers. you can help prevent the next financial crisis. speaking yesterday in

washington, he stressed the importance of teaching financial literacy that students need to understand for themselves and the country, saving and budgeting is really, really important. >> no mention of whether investment bankers who concoct interesting financial engine engineerienginee engineering need to get -- >> maybe you can change an entire generation. >> maybe you can. regulators rejected a request for raising the price of a stamp to 46 cents. the board said the agency failed to show the recession was the reason for the troubles. that's what's required far hike that exceeds the rate of inflation. a change of command at bp. american bob dudley takes over at ceo today. he takes over for hayward. he will be on the board until december. and heidi klum hanging up her halo after 13 years as a victoria's secret angel. she decided to retire from the iconic role to focus on other

ventures. klum said in a statement, quote, all good things have to come to an end. she started as a model. she is a full pledged business woman now. towns across north carolina have been flooded by heavy rains. roads are impassablimpassable. up next, norman broslo to tell us how they're coping with the situation there. driving home nails quickly and easily in the tightest spaces. more innovation, more great values. craftsman. trust. in your hands. it's pretty cool. [ woman ] you just feed your check in. feed the money right in. no deposit slips. no looking for an envelope. i have an image of my check right here. i can get a picture of the check, on the receipt. it even tells what kind of bills i put in. [ man ] you just put the bills right in. it even did the math for me. -four twentys. -a ten. -two fives. -a hundred bucks. -it's all right here. ♪ i'm done, i'm outta here.

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top stories. flooded roads, worked out bridges. million of people affected by a monster storm heading up the east coast this morning.

flood warnings in effect from the carolinas to new england this morning. five people died in north carolina where some areas have gotten close to two feet of rain this past week. sources telling cnn that today will be rahm emanuel's last day as white house chief of staff eyeing a run for chicago mayor. senior adviser peter rouse when's been with president obama since he became a senator expected to take the top spot. choking off supplies in afghanistan. police in southern pakistan say militants torched trucks. the convoy held up after the pakistan government shut down the gate that separates the two countries over the deaths of three soldiers. pakistan claims that they were killed in pakistani territory in a fight between nato troops and militants. extreme weather taking an extreme toll on the carolinas, especially north carolina where they have had more rain than they have ever seen in some areas along the coast, some residents were completely cut off from the rest of the county

with no way to get in or get out on flooded roads. on the phone right now is norman bri son, joins us from jacksonville, north carolina. good to talk to you this morning, norman, what is the situation there? >> last night we had quite a bit of flooding in and around the areas. a lot of water's starting to recede and getting back into the area. we are finding a bit of roads underwashed and roads were crumbling. right now we're getting teams out to try to make it safe for people traveling in and out of the area. >> you say eight water rescues so far. how have those gone? >> actually, very good. so far, we have not had any deaths in the county. we have had as you said -- we have done eight water rescues. sometimes taken us quite a bit of time to get in and around the county just because of the roads being flooded and overall doing fairly good with that.

>> fortunate to have not have any fatalities. five people died. >> washington county. >> traffic accidents. car hits puddle, starts to hydroplane and dives off of the road. have you got everybody out of harm's way at this point or other people who may still be in the homes and not able to get snout. >> that's what we're waiting for the sunlight to come up and see. we are getting people doing assessments in and around the area. there were some areas we couldn't get in to and this morning hoping to get in there and see what's going on with those. >> what is the advice for people watching up and down the east coast with the floodwaters? i mean, from the emergency management perspective, are you cautioning people about driving if they don't have to? >> yes. absolutely. we have done media releases informing people if you do not have to get out, by all means, do not. also, if you are having to get out, look. take extra time. give plenty of space between you

and the next person. there may be a sink hole. there could be a washout or anything that you may come across in the roadway. >> yeah. reminder to people to slow down driving, too. if you hit the puddles and suddenly you are on water skis instead of in a car. norman bryson, thank you. appreciate the update. >> thank you. all right. cnn ireporters checking in this morning to bring you a better perspective on the extreme weather. gritty29 with peez pictures of carolina beach, north carolina. vacationing there from buffalo, new york. bad time to vacation. frightened by the floodwaters and would a blizzard. a food old buffalo blizzard any day over the floodwaters. >> we want to show the world your ireport. shoot it, send it. remember, stay safe out there. meanwhile, a new planet. is this a breakthrough in the search for life? a planet that could be like earth. how close is it? we eeg break it down with

philadelphia astronomer derrick pitts next.

♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. is there life on other planets? scientists may be one step closer to an answer. following the discovery of a planet much like earth. astronomers are calling the discovery a goldilocks planet. not too cold, not too hot. maybe just right to have water and sustain life. and just 120 trillion miles

away. joining us from philadelphia, derrick pitts from the science museum. maybe just right. to use another metaphor, you say it gets one step closer to the holy grail which is -- >> the hoe ly grail finding lif somewhere else in the universe. >> how possible is it? what do we know about the plan sunset could the conditions be ripe for life? >> so christine, let's do this first. first thing we have to say is probably of finding life somewhere else seems high with the number of stars and planets throughout the universe. we finally found a place that's closer to earth in its size and its composition than any of the other places we found and we even figure there's a band of hab it about. right around that middle, could

be liquid water. >> the front side of the planet faces its star. and so, one side is warm. one side is probably cold. you think the middle line is find life adapted to that zone? >> right. so this is the issue about this. when we look at the planets a enwe talk about one being too hot and one being too cool and this one being in the goldilocks position, this means it's a position in a zone where water exists as a liquid and since we base our investigations for life around the universe on the possiblies of liquid water given that that's how life developed on this planet we look at this planet and one little zone, that area between the light side and the dark side where there could be liquid water and that then at least raises the possibility of an environment where life might be -- might develop but we don't know if there's anything there yet. >> explain to me. this is very far away and told

it's pretty close actually. where this plan net relation to earth? >> well, it's in the constellation libra and easily visible in the evening sky and it's 20 light years away. as you said 120 trillion miles but let's put some scale on that. there are stars in the evening sky, one of which is 25 light years away and then another adjacent to that that's 1,500 light years but the most distant object viz wbl the human eye is 300 million light years away. the 20 doesn't seem so far at all. >> this follows a story popular with the viewers earlier this week with a test or speech or talking in washington about what they think are ufos and then you have this new -- this newfound planet. when's the fascination with finding other life?

what do the two stories together mean to you if anything at all? >> well, that's a great question, christine. here's how i see this. this is two prongs of the human interest in finding out whether or not there's life some place else. i think we want to know philosophically speaking because i think we are an inner desire to find out, to learn, to determine whether we are alone in this enormous universe. so when we look at these other planets, you know, hunt for these other planets, looking for the possibility of life, that's us sort of going out to look to see. then when we look at the idea of ufos coming to the planet, i think that's also part of our desire in that we think maybe they're coming here to find us, too. so it's all wrapped around, i believe, this idea of are we alone or not? >> do you think we're alone? just -- i'm just going do go out on a limb and say what about the ufos? do you think there's intelligent life trying to find out more

about us? >> if you look at the probability aspect of the number of stars and planets it makes sense there would be some other life out there some place. and it would be arrogant of us to think that we are the only life in this entire universe but the question of whether or not they have been here can only be answered really if we can come up with what we'd have to call extraordinary proof. it was carl sagan that said extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof and so a claim like this while it is enticing and tantalizing and so incredible to think about, we need real concrete proof of their existence in order to go with that. >> all right. derrick pitts, as soon as we get some more proof, we'll have you back to talk about it. chief of astronomer. >> please. i can't wait to see it. >> me, too. thanks so much. john? >> kind of a noncommittal answer to your question, don't you think? >> scientific hedge, yes. rain lashing the northeast. airport delays in the major

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there's a rainy-looking new york city this morning where it's rainy right now. 64 degrees. we're expecting the rain to probably lighten up as the morning progresses, as that storm moves the way out. probably seen the worst of it in new york. the lingering effects will sort of trickle down for a few hours yet to come. >> i want my basement to stay dry. rob marciano tracking the extreme storm. there's millions of people with their fingers crossed right now. >> basements dry up there in the northeast. always a crap shoot with these kind of storms. the good -- new york got off easy relative to everybody else. once the rain got to the new york city area, it's now starting to move off to the east

and not the case for upstate and there's a lot of spots and offshore or not offshore but inland with a heck of a lot more rain than the folks now in coastal regions. see the line of thunderstorms. heaviest amounts marching finally off towards the east and boston and eastern new england in this and eastern parts of long island but where it wasn't moving very quickly and when it was just coming down and coming down, a number of areas hammered with this up and down the east coast. four states yesterday specifically really getting pelted. nk intersection, over 20 inches of rainfall in five days. south carolina, not only the rain but the wind with some tree damage there. pennsylvania, especially across the allegheny, tremendous amounts of rain up and over ten inches in some spots and then virginia, southeastern virginia, especially, seeing the brunt of the action yesterday. norfolk was crushed. almost 12 inches of rainfall there and on top of that had a

number of severe weather warnings in that area. the line moves off to the east. also parts of the tri-state area in through central parts of long island and southwestern connecticut. the over thing with this is closer to boston seeing the wind. wind warnings are posted for eastern new england. could see 50 to 60-mile-an hour-gusts and that's an issue with areas little bit on the soggy side. if you're traveling today, roadways are slick this morning. and we had a number of hydroplaning accidents yesterday. especially if your tires aren't good, take it easy if you see a puddle upcoming. boston, wind and rain today. over an hour delay there. new york city metros, over three-hour delays at laguardia already and probably see that some more. philly and d.c. hammered yesterday. flsh flooding in the d.c. area in rush hour an a big old mess. a little bit of optimism for

you. saturday forecast for the weekend. once this thing goes through, we are looking for not only dry conditions but actually unseasonably cool air and feeling like the middle of fall rather than the beginning of fall. the southeast seeing temperatures well above average after a very, very cool summer. that's the latest from here, guys. christine, best of luck to you and your basement. if not, a dry weekend to mop things up. >> great. thanks. >> a good day to head to the coast coast. a new hotel on the vegas strip is becoming the worst kind of hot spot. the it's a parabolic reflector. when the sun's rays hit it, it focuses them and directs them right on the pool area where it's melting plastic cups and bags. a guest said he could smell the hair burning. the hotel's putting a special film to block about 70% of the reflection and also getting -- here's a high-tech solution.

bigger umbrellas down on the pool area to deal with the hot spots. >> the hotty by the pool, new meaning. >> what architect didn't figure that out. looks like the solar reflectors. it's 5,000 degrees. >> the love of unintended consequences. after the sin gnatty reds won the central division this week, champagne flowed and victory cigars in the clubhouse by the owner. right? but some of those watching at home noted the celebration noted it violated the smoking ban and they complained. now the team is being investigated for health code violations. >> hey. you know? a ban is a ban is a ban. one of the highlights from the indians-tigers game happened in the stands. check this out. watch it. boom. fly ball. out into the second deck and the man with the baby looking at the

rebound and watch this. watch what happens. the baby in the left arm and one hands it. yes. pretty good balancing act there. >> right on the rail, too. >> i like the guy that fell over the seats the other day. bounces up behind him. baby in one hand and one hands it with the other. >> cool. >> not bad. >> remember the little girl that caught the fly ball. she flew it away and how cute. remember that one? that was some other great dad and kid video at the game. all right. fierce gun battles. explosions. raids. a daily danger for soldiers in afghanistan. how do our troops deal with the stress and the daily prospect of death? jasson carroll shows us next. ???

♪ welcome back to the most news in the morning. this week's cnn hero or heroes, the troops of the 101st airborne in afghanistan. >> following one of them, army first class sergeant andy shorter. they're the next generation of band of brothers. jason carroll was with them and joins us with the next chapter. good morning. >> they're all heroes, aren't they? >> absolutely. >> in many, many ways. they're a dedicated in a way that few can really appreciate unless they, too, have been in the same situation. they're truly a band of brothers.

much is said about the closeness that in the bonds that exist between you guys. where do you think the bond between you guys comes from? >> you know, you bleed with them. you sweat with them. they become your brothers. my problems are their problems. their problems are my problems. you can't get no tighter than that. like a brother. >> this is about fighting to the man to your left and right. that's what it's all about. >> reporter: how about the rest of you guys? >> i agree. i don't have any brothers. these are actually, like, a lot of them feel like they are my -- like, blood brothers. >> reporter: i wonder if you get to the point where as much as you guys love each other do you get to the point sometimes where you just want to throttle someone? >> that's what the cave is for. >> yeah. >> that is what the cave is for whenever you feel like you want to ring their neck, hide in your cave and calm yourself down. >> reporter: you have a bond but sometimes people are so close, you know, they can't see -- they lose perspective sort to speak. >> it is just like the brother.

i could be so mad at my brother to want to hurt me and then five minutes later it is like, when's up, man? best friends again. >> after you've been with these guys so long, everybody knows how we are truly deep down inside and we cannot let the moment get to us. we're going to get mad at times. we are frustrated but at the end of the day we know, hey, we're -- i'm still here. you're here. we'll make it. >> reporter: when i started this assignment i thought to myself, one of the questions i always had is how you guys deal with death. because that's a very real part of what you do. >> my first deployment i lost someone. i lost a platoon sergeant and a friend of mine. we had a mentality to hurt somebody. we want to tear somebody up. you know? but our buddies to left and right kept us sane and kept us still in the fight, still focused on a mission at hand. they become your mom, father, brother, your sister.

that's -- they become your family. so that's who you lean on. whenever you are hurting, that's who i lean on. >> i know if it was to happen to me, i wouldn't want everybody to be sad. played music. you know? have some food. just get together. >> i want to party. >> reporter: oh. you want to party. >> i want to party and i want them to sit me up in the corner just chilling. sit me up just -- smiling. >> reporter: it's got to be difficult for you guys going home and you have these types of experiences and then you try to talk to people about it. you know? >> but it's our responsibility. it is our responsibility to go back home and put it in words and ways for them to understand. i think we are making a difference and that's what you want your life to be. you want to make a difference in life. by us doing this, we're making a difference. >> i just hope that the american people actually keep us in their thoughts and prayers. and not forget about us and not forget that we're over here. >> regardless of whether you agree or disagree, we are

americans. keep us in your prayers regardless. you know? keep us in your heart. >> well, since the u.s. has been at war for nine years, it is easy to get fatigue on the home front and home front. they represent the thousands upon thousands of men and women who are out there every day leaning on each other each day to see this through until the very end. you know what's odd? after you spend so much time with the guys, i was talking to sergeant shorter's wife just yesterday and i realize that you miss them. i can see how that bond sort of develops over time. especially when you consider deployment for a year. >> they have such terrific attitudes, especially when you consider the gravity of the situation they face over there. they know that -- >> absolutely. >> each and every one of them knows that the fay facing them could be their last day. >> very real to them. extremely real on a daily basis and why you need that humor and lean on the person as you heard on your left and right at all times.

>> all right. thanks, jason. great series. who's the cnn hero of the year for 2010? top ten finalists have been announced. you decide. go to cnnheroes.com. all will be honored or thanksgiving night and only one of these top ten will be named the hero of the year. >> it is about five minutes to the top of the hour. don't go away. ♪

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so the new movie "the social network" comes out today all about facebook and theal gags of the idea stolen from these two guys. we had them on earlier today and want to point out to you, they're blogging for us this morning about the story. >> they had an idea for an idea and hired mark zuckerberg. it's a big part of the movie. and it's interesting guys. they look exactly alike. usually twins by the time they're 29 -- i mean, exactly alike. >> one maybe heavier than the other. do their hair differently, whatever. these guys you could not tell them apart. could not. they're identical twins, obviously. but still, literally no difference between the two. they do a lot of crew and both in terrific shape. trying to make the 2012 olympics rowing team and an awful lot going for them. sickening. mbas from oxford. a huge settlement of facebook. yeno